Difunctional cyclobutabenzene monomers

Novel difucntionalized cyclobutabenzene monomers of the general formula: wherein Z can be hydrogens or a cyclobutane ring; and X and Y are carboxyl, amino, alcohol, isocyanate, acid halide, or bis-acyl fluoride groups. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the cyclobutabenzene derivative is 1,2-dihydrocyclobutabenzene-3,6-carboxylic acid. The difunctionalized cyclobutabenzene monomer can form part of a polymer backbone chain, but has an additional functionality, the butane ring, which can be easily opened to produce strong, covalent bond crosslinking between polymer chains. The crosslinking can be induced simply by heating the polymer to a temperature in excess of 300 DEG C. Novel difucntionalized cyclobutabenzene monomers of the general formula: wherein Z can be hydrogens or a cyclobutane ring; and X and Y are carboxyl, amino, alcohol, isocyanate, acid halide, or bis-acyl fluoride groups. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the cyclobutabenzene derivative is 1,2-dihydrocyclobutabenzene-3,6-carboxylic acid. The difunctionalized cyclobutabenzene monomer can form part of a polymer backbone chain, but has an additional functionality, the butane ring, which can be easily opened to produce strong, covalent bond crosslinking between polymer chains. The crosslinking can be induced simply by heating the polymer to a temperature in excess of 300 DEG C.